Amelia's Care Package

It's been just over a month since we saw Amelia's sweet little face. For the first few weeks, I can honestly say that I did a great job keeping my emotions in check. You can even ask Jeff if you don't believe me! But, in the past week, I can feel the frustration and emotional side of me creeping back up again. At times, this process almost feels like a cruel joke. 'Sure, we'll let you know you have a daughter. And sure, you can see a picture of her. And sure, we'll make you wait a few months before you're allowed to lay eyes on her'.

Waiting for our referral was so much easier this time (granted it also went much faster this time) but waiting for our travel call is not even a single bit easier. Waiting is hard. Waiting for the government to do their job is hard. Waiting for two governments to do their jobs is even harder! Trusting in the process and accepting the fact that I don't have a bit of control in when I bring my daughter home is quite possibly the craziest emotional roller-coaster I've ever been on. Actually, I've been on this ride before, so even though I'm able to anticipate the peaks and valleys, doesn't make the ride any smoother. So, I've once again called in my good friends 'Ben and Jerry'. I spent quite a bit of time with them while waiting for Graham's travel call, and they're back to offer support. :)

I've also indulged in some (ok a LOT) of retail therapy. I've waited a long time to walk into the girl section of the store and pick something out for my daughter. I've picked up a few things over the past year, but only now, do I know who I'm shopping for and it feels that much more special. Just like with Graham, we are allowed to send one care package to Amelia. Her care package went out almost immediately after we received her referral, but I haven't gotten around to sharing the details. We're only allowed to send a single gallon sized ziplock bag. And wow, did we pack that thing full! When we dropped the bag off at our agency, we were told that if it popped open, they would just tape it shut, so not to worry. :) Amelia is getting three outfits (are you surprised by the color???), a hair bow, a photo album of our family, and a disposable camera (with hopes that her foster family will take pictures of her for us). Now, if could only get an updated picture of her wearing one of these outfits!!!!!

CHEER for our legals!!!!

Our legals have arrived!!! In case you want to know exactly what that means, check out this post, but otherwise, just know that this is a great step in the right direction. Originally, we were told not to expect this to happen for about a month, but instead we waited only two weeks. Let's keep this process moving and get Amelia home!!!

Room for a princess...

The time has finally come for us to get Amelia's room ready! The guest room has been empty for a bit, but I was hesitant to get her room ready too early and have it sit empty waiting for Amelia to come home. But, with our surprise referral a few weeks ago, I can safely say that it's time to get ready for her arrival! Her dresser has arrived, the crib is just waiting to be assembled, and the walls are prepped for pink paint. Here is our work in progress....say good-bye to the sage colored walls, and get ready for pink!

6 months old!

Today, Amelia turns 6 months old. I can't help but wonder how much bigger she's grown since the last picture she had taken for us. I can't help but wonder which milestones she's reached. I can't help but wonder if she's getting more hair...I have a thing for hair bows! I can't help but wonder what her favorite things are. I can't help but wonder what makes her smile and laugh. Thankfully, soon enough I won't have to wonder about all these things because soon enough I'll have my girl in my arms. I do wonder when 'soon enough' will actually arrive though...

Details, Details, Details....

Since we've received Amelia's referral, the most common question we hear is 'When is she coming home?' and when we offer the answer (more than likely late February), the original question is followed 100% of the time with 'Why does it take so long?' So, I will attempt to answer that very question. If you're not into details, the short answer is that we're waiting for immigration and visa paperwork. If details are your thing, keep reading for all the nitty gritty details of the Korean adoption process after referral.

1. In order to officially accept Amelia's referral, we had to make our way through a giant stack of legal paperwork. Luckily, CHS (our agency) is FABULOUS with helping so it really didn't seem that bad! Our acceptance paperwork left the USA for Korea on December 18.

2. We're now waiting for Amelia's 'legals' to arrive from Korea. They'll actually be sent directly to CHS and we'll be notified when they arrive. 'Legals' are essentially a Korean birth certificate and all the legal documentation that proves she's eligible for international adoption.

3. Once the legals arrive, we're able to apply for the I-600. The I-600 grants us permission to bring a specific child (Amelia) into the country.

4. Once we've been granted our I-600, our entire file will then be forwarded to the National Visa Center (NVC). It is 'logged in' and 'logged out'. At this point in the process, I have the ability to track our file. This is a good thing and a bad thing....in adoption, I've learned that there really is a such thing as having too much information. A hold-up of even a single day is enough to send an anxiously awaiting parent into a frenzy....

5. Our file leaves the NVC and is sent to the Embassy in Seoul. Once it arrives in Seoul, the embassy sends out some paperwork known as P3, to ESWS, our Korean adoption agency.

6. ESWS returns P3 to the Embassy which means that finally everything is done, and Amelia's visa can be issued!

7. TRAVEL CALL!!!

*Just as a reference point, when we were in process for Graham, his acceptance packet went to Korea on July 10 and we got our travel call on September 12. Assuming we have no paperwork issues we're expecting to be on a similar timeline.

Introducing our DAUGHTER!!!

We are proud to introduce Amelia Paige Olson, born June 26, 2008!!!

When I woke up yesterday morning, I knew it would be a good day. I was having two of my college roommates over for lunch, one I hadn't seen in a very long time, and I was looking forward to catching up with the girls. What I didn't know when I woke up, was that my good day, would be turned into an absolutely, amazingly, great day! Early in the afternoon I said good-bye to my friend Amy, and not more than 5 minutes later the phone rang. Quickly running to grab the phone, I assumed it was Amy calling to let me know she had forgotten something. When I saw the telephone number of my social worker pop up on caller ID I froze. Things seemed to move in slow motion as I went through all the possible reasons for her to be calling. I answered the phone to hear her very cheery voice. Other than asking her if she was calling to 'just wish me a happy holiday' I have no idea what I said. After she told me she had our referral, I do remember her telling me to breathe! In all the years that my friend Jenny has known me, I don't think she's ever seen me so shocked! I'm so thankful she was here, because I was able to focus, or try to focus, on what our social worker was telling me without having to worry about entertaining Graham.

To make a long story short, I received our referral information over email, immediately fell in love with her picture, sent her medical information off to the International Clinic at the University of Minnesota to be reviewed (standard procedure with every referral), and refreshed my email every 30 seconds waiting to hear back from the doctor. Somewhere in there, I did call Jeff and was surprisingly able to catch him at his desk. Of course he was SHOCKED with the news, and the poor guy was heading off to give a presentation at work...I'm not sure how focused he was though!

I'm still trying to process the idea that I'm now the very lucky, Mother of two beautiful children who are 17 months apart...I'm going to be BUSY!!!

So, you're probably wondering what happens next? We've got some paperwork to complete and then every thing is out of our hands and into the hands of our government as well as the Korean government. I do have all the details regarding that process, but I'll save those riveting details for another day. Assuming everything moves along as expected, we'll be in Seoul towards the end of February to be united with our Princess Amelia.

Now the real waiting begins, the hardest part of the wait, the wait to have our little sweetie in our arms...

PS. Check back here often for updates. I'm so excited now that I have someone to actually update about!!!

Still here, and still waiting....

Yep, we're still here, and we're still waiting for the phone to ring. Our lives have gotten increasingly busy with the quickly approaching holiday season, so the days do seem to be passing a bit faster than normal. I feel so torn about wanting the time to fly. Part of me wants to fast forward to the day when the phone rings with news of our daughter, and other parts of me want to savor each day I have with Graham while he's as young as he is without rushing anything. I think a reminder of living in the moment is probably a good lesson for all, especially at this time of year when our calendars seem to explode with 'things'.

I do find myself thinking about her much more lately though. When I'm getting Graham ready for bed at night I wonder if she's just waking up and starting her day on the other side of the world. I hope that she's got a loving foster family and that she's greeted each morning with smiles. When Graham wakes me up each morning by loudly calling 'Mama' from his crib, then flops down with laughter when I actually appear, I wonder if his sister is getting ready to sleep for the night. As the weather has turned frigid here, and I know from experience how cold Seoul can be in the winter, I hope she's bundled in thick warm pajama's, not unlike those that Graham sleeps bundled in.

When the time is right, I know the phone will ring. Until then though, I'm going to focus on just living in the moment.